


Each Moment is a Day

by starlurker



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Alternate Timeline, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-03
Updated: 2010-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-10 09:05:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlurker/pseuds/starlurker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A day in the miserable, glorious life of Dr. Reid Oliver.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Each Moment is a Day

6:00 am

Reid's alarm rang and he forgot that he changed it to the radio setting. Some girl kept singing about a clock tick-tocking and a party not stopping and the urge to get up to hurl the alarm clock out the window warred with his urge to hit the snooze button. The snooze button won.

6:05 am

The song this time was about a woman singing about men with Hispanic names. The snooze button won again.

6:09 am

Before the radio could blast another song at him, Reid got up and decided to face the day. He switched off the alarm clock and stretched his arms, his elbow and jaw popping obscenely loud in his quiet room. Some small trace of light was peeking through at the bottom of his blackout window blinds – essential for shift work – but not enough to bother him. He went to his en suite bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He wasn't a vain man, but this morning, he felt his features were decidedly lacking. Head too big, weird gaps in teeth, long and narrow face, pale skin that never saw the outdoors and a sandwich habit whose effects were insisting on staying longer despite an hour at the gym every other day. What is this compared to the appeal of the milk-fed nubile boy next door, he thought bitterly. He caught himself and shook his head.

"You're turning into a bitter old queen, Oliver, and that just won't do," he said to his reflection.

7:30am

Reid felt more human after a long, hot shower (_Ale-ale-alejandro, ale-ale-alejandro_ kept going through his head). He took care not to make too much noise when he got out of his room – Jacob had been having sleep issues and poor Katie was stressed out enough as it was without adding fatigue to her list of problems.

The fridge wasn't the usual place of wonder. Everything looked stale and dry, or like they were frozen but didn't come back quite the same way. The bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon seemed the best bet.

What would it taste like with dried dill, he wondered. He rooted through the cupboards and found a small container that said 'DILL – 08/09/09' – good for Katie for keeping track of the shelf life of her spices, which was one more amazing thing about her. He opened the container and shook out a small amount on top of the glistening salmon. The coffee was programmed to make coffee at 7:30 and it was just about ready when he had his first bite.

As far as mornings went, this wasn't half bad. Since this was Oakdale, this was a bad sign. His phone rang for the first time that morning, but it was easy to ignore.

8:45 am

The road to hell was probably paved with Oakdale drivers. If they weren't idiots who took off at blistering speeds, they were turtles who thought that the middle lane was a sightseeing route. He would understand the speedsters if they were getting the hell out of this godforsaken place, but no, this Stepfordian burb actually retained its citizens. The only way to get out, it seemed, was a body bag, a fake body bag, an unmitigated disaster that ruined families, or a broken heart.

His phone beeped intermittently as it lay face down on the passenger seat.

9:30 am

His ex-office was close to empty. The new wing would proceed without him, without the machines he specifically ordered, the staff he wanted to hire, without Bob Hughes stopping by to offer his advice in a way that Reid didn't resent him for, without Luke stopping by with his infuriating charm.

He sat down in the ergonomic chair and put his face in his hands. He let himself wallow in it for a minute before getting up to put the last of the things he had forgotten in his bag.

There was a card sitting on his desk, a farewell card from the looks of it. It probably wouldn't be friendly and when he opened it, he wasn't disappointed.

10:15 am

The drive back to Katie's house was confirmation that drivers in Oakdale were secretly Satan's minions and handmaidens.

_Ale-ale-alejandro, Ale-ale-alejandro_.

11:00 am

Harvard Square had a restaurant called _Au Bon Pain_, which had the best sandwiches Reid had ever had when he was attending med school. He was sleeping with Patrick, one of the hottest sandwich makers Reid had ever seen in his life, who also happened to be one of the best sandwich makers Reid had ever seen. In the height of finals week, Patrick snapped and went into the restaurant after hours using his key and prepared a chicken pesto sandwich that Reid promptly thanked him for with another blowjob once they got back into Patrick's dorm room.

"Ew," Patrick had said. "Semen and pesto don't mix."

"Do you really care when a blowjob is that good?" Reid had asked, and licked a line straight down Patrick's chest and soft belly.

Reid can't remember how to make the sandwich now though.

12:00 pm

Reid spent thirty minutes trying to construct the legendary Patrick-made chicken sandwich from decidedly lacklustre ingredients. The pesto in the fridge only had one week left before expiry. There was no focaccia bread so he had to settle for Wonder bread, and the chicken was meat he had stripped from leftover chicken wings.

This was his life, he thought, as he looked at the sad sandwich. He had a bite and was pleasantly surprised – it wasn't as terrible as he thought it would be.

1:30 pm

Katie sat beside him on the couch and held out her arms. Reid went willingly.

"Things get better, Reid. I know that's a horrible cliché, but they do," Katie said, her voice soft, her lips close to his temple. "If I can get over my husband dying, you can get over this too."

"I know that," Reid said. "Life sucks, blah blah blah. If you ever tell anyone I cuddled with you, I'll kill you by the way. I'm a doctor. I know how to make it look like an accident."

"You won't do that. Or if you do, you'll give me some brain trauma and I'll be rushed to the hospital and big guess as to who they'll have to get to operate on me," Katie said.

"I quit, remember?"

"I know lots of rich, powerful people who can get you to do what they want. One of them is your jailbait boyfriend."

"Low blow," Reid said. "Don't kick a man when he's down."

"Please. You've heard worse."

"True enough."

Katie giggled. "Need some distraction?" she asked.

"Sure," Reid said.

"Can you take Jacob out for me? I'm expecting Vienna and she's pretty upset, so I think I need some girlfriend time with her."

"No problem." Reid got up and looked down at Katie. "You're pretty great, you know that?"

Katie smiled up at him. "Why, Dr. Oliver. You said a nice thing without any prompting. You really are turning into a real boy, aren't you?"

Reid rolled his eyes and went to get the stroller.

2:30 pm

Oakdale Park was beautiful at this time of the afternoon; there weren't a lot of people roaming, which made sense since it was part of the regular work day. Nevertheless, he glared at the dogs that sniffed around the stroller. He glared at the women who wanted to touch and play with Jacob. Most of the men passed him by, so that was at least half of the population he didn't have to worry about disrupting Jacob's time of solitude.

"You don't need these people, do you, Jake?" Reid said out loud. A couple of women made large, deliberate steps around him as he was walking.

Because life sucked, Noah Mayer walked up the park path and glared at Reid hatefully once he recognized him. Reid made sure to glare disdainfully back.

"Dr. Oliver," Noah said, the good manners in him still coming out.

"Mr. Mayer. I can't say it's a pleasure."

"Believe me, it's not a pleasure for me either," Noah bit out, then crossed his arms in front of him, broadening his shoulders. The sunlight hit him just right, and for a moment, Noah looked like every girl and gay boy's dream – good-looking, solid and strong, the boy-next-door in the movies come to life.

"Now that we've established that," Reid said, "we can go on with our walk in the park. You can go on to Luke and have your fairy tale ending, and I can go on walking Jacob until it's time for his afternoon snack. Have a good life, Mr. Mayer." He took a few steps to manoeuvre the stroller around Noah's bulk and made sure to take careful steps forward. He had taken maybe ten steps when he heard Noah ask him to stop.

"What is it, Noah?" Reid asked, not turning back.

"Luke and I aren't together," Noah said. Reid felt his heart take galloping leaps. He gulped some air and thought back to what he saw in the coffee shop.

"I want to be with him," Noah continued. "But he's not on the same page."

Don't turn back, Reid thought. Don't turn back to talk to him. He looked back anyway.

Reid sometimes forgot how young Noah actually was because Noah was an old soul, but not in the stupid clichéd way that parents looking for nice things to say about their kids often were. No, Noah's battle scars were earned. Even now, with the sheer dislike Noah wasn't trying all that hard to conceal, he still had the manners to keep this decent, he still had the decency to give his ex-boyfriend another opportunity because he loved him. Reid had to respect that even if he resented Noah for it, but for the first time, he saw the boy that Luke fell in love with, saw the man that Luke will probably always love in some deep, meaningful way.

"You're a better man than I am," Reid said. "Right now anyway."

"If you hurt him, I'll come after you," Noah said.

You talk like you didn't hurt him, Reid thought uncharitably, but this was a moment that didn't need to get ruined. In one of the few times that Reid can remember, he bit his tongue and moved forward.

3:15 pm

After giving Jacob back to Katie for a mid-afternoon snack, Reid tried not to look too obvious as he practically ran to his room to get his phone. He clicked through the menu and saw 10 messages, all from Luke.

Message #1:   
_Reid, please pick up. I just found out about you quitting. Please, if you're there, if you see this, give me a call. I want to talk to you. There was nothing going on with Noah and me. We were just talking._

Message #3:  
_Hey, it's me. It's about 7:00pm and I'm probably filling up your mailbox but I really want to talk to you. Reid, did you quitting means what I think it means?_

Message #6:  
_I don't get why you're being such a baby about this! God! Are you sure I'm the one without experience here? We were just talking!_

Message #7:  
_Please forget I left the last message that I left. I'm just tired and it's been a long day and I'm frustrated. Call me, OK?_

Message #9:  
_Hey, it's me. I was stuck in an elevator today and a million dollars to you if you guess where. I mean that literally._

Message #10:  
_I guess you know the drill by now. Come on, Reid. I deserve better than this, and you're better than this._

Reid ran out of the door, hoping there was still time.

4:00 pm

He rang the bell at the Snyders and hoped desperately that Luke would answer the door.

Life didn't suck that much because Luke opened it, with surprise, then irritation and hurt and anger mingling on his face.

"I'm really stupid," Reid said, and kissed Luke, who took a step back in surprise. Reid slid one hand down to Luke's hip, the other on the back of Luke's head and poured everything he could into the kiss, his fears, his apologies, his out-of-control _want_.

"Ahem," he heard from somewhere in the vicinity of the room.

Reid opened his eyes and looked over Luke's shoulder, where a very distinguished woman he has seen around town was standing by the couch, a small smile on her lips. He took a step back and registered Luke's pole-axed expression.

"You must be Dr. Oliver," the woman said.

Reid licked his lips and tried to discreetly wipe his mouth. "Yes, I am," he said.

"My grandson has been talking about you," she said.

He looked at Luke, who still wasn't quite out of his shock. He was on his own here. He went to shake her hand. "Dr. Reid Oliver. You must be Lucinda Walsh. Luke has spoken of you as well," he said.

"Good things, I hope?"

"Very much so. I can only imagine how colourful some of Luke's, uh, descriptions of me have been."

"They haven't been dull," Lucinda acknowledged. "But then, I find I don't mind difficult people. I've been branded one myself many a time, if you must know."

"Grandma, I don't mean to be rude, but can I speak to Reid in private?" Luke interjected from the background.

"Of course, dear." Lucinda smoothed her skirt down and grabbed her purse on the couch. She tiptoed to reach Reid's ear and whispered, "Difficult people have their ways, Dr. Oliver, as I'm sure you know. Tread carefully." Her face was smooth and had the indulgent expression that Reid often saw in Luke's family member's faces, but he wasn't foolish enough to ignore the steel underneath the words.

"Grandma, what did you say?" Luke asked, clearly not surprised when Reid turned to watch their interaction.

"He'll tell you himself, I'm sure of it," Lucinda said. "Tell me all about this later, hmm?"

"Grandma," Luke whined, and Reid felt for one moment like the dirty cradle robber Katie had jokingly accused him of being earlier.

"Don't have too much fun, dear," Lucinda said, walking out as if there were manservants rolling a carpet before every step. Luke closed the door behind her and looked at Reid.

"So you were saying something about being stupid?" Luke asked, a smirk on his lips.

For the first time in these hellish couple of days, Reid breathed a sigh of relief. "Can we go somewhere where we won't be interrupted at all?" he asked, and his day improved exponentially when Luke nodded while still smirking.

4:15 pm

The drive to the hotel was quiet, filled with curious glances going back and forth, their hands shying away from each other when both grabbed for the controls on the car radio, the air thick with anticipation.

4:30 pm

He went to the room ahead of Luke, who was taking care of the arrangements. He was tempted to run, just this once.

4:40 pm

Reid was on the bed, staring at the ceiling, breathing deeply to try and calm himself down when he saw Luke open the door and hang the Do Not Disturb sign outside. He leaned back against the door and looked at Reid with a soft expression on his face.

"Start talking," Luke said.

Reid rehearsed this in the ten minutes he had before Luke came up. In his head, he planned to say _I was a fool who didn't investigate the evidence before him first, who looked at the most incriminating piece of it and based my judgment on that. I saw what I wanted to see because I was scared – I didn't become this asshole that you know because people treated me nicely. I thought I saw the person I wanted most in the world wanting someone who wasn't me, and it hurt more than I can ever tell you. I knew you were special the minute I laid eyes on you, and even when I hated you I couldn't stop looking at you._

"Love makes me do stupid things," Reid said. Luke gasped in surprise and maybe, Reid thought, it was the right thing to say, both to Luke and to himself.

4:41 pm

Reid felt himself knocked back into the bed, Luke's kiss turning desperate and sloppy and dirty in the best ways, Luke suddenly seeming to have ten hands in Reid's hair, in his pants, on his chest.

"Luke," Reid said, at a loss for words. "Luke."

5:00 pm

"Round two?" Reid asked. He had a rep to protect here, and he had the feeling Luke was a little embarrassed too, considering how quickly things had wrapped up the first time.

"Why not?" Luke said, looking debauched with his cock hanging out of his pants, his shirt still partially buttoned, his hair looking like he'd slept on it for days.

5:20 pm

They got all the way naked this time, and took it slower. Reid tasted the secret hollows on Luke's body, ran his tongue on the smooth, sleek expanse of Luke's back, stroked and caressed the smooth muscles, the bumps of scar tissue, the bristly hair on his chest. He overdosed on the taste and smell of Luke's throat, of Luke's mouth and came back for more, always greedy.

5:40 pm

Luke took his time, and what he lacked in expertise he made up for in thoroughness, in appreciating every detail. Reid, thanks to Luke, discovered five new spots on his body today that he didn't think were turn-ons.

"What can I say?" Luke smiled, his mouth glistening as he paused in the middle of a spectacular blowjob. "I have hidden depths." Reid laid back on the bed, feeling like he'd melt right onto the mattress.

6:00 pm

Thank God for huge beds, Reid thought. Neither of them had to lie on the wet spot. He gathered Luke in his arms and felt Luke make himself comfortable, tucking his head underneath Reid's chin. The blinds were drawn and Reid could feel himself drift off into the pleasant fatigue caused by sex, where dream and the mundane merged into its own reality.

"Love makes me do stupid things too by the way," Luke murmured sleepily.

"Yeah. How so?"

"I'm with you, aren't I?" Luke said, chuckling.

"I'll have you know I'm the best thing in your life right now," Reid said.

Luke rose and leaned to rest his weight on his elbow. "You're getting there, Dr. Oliver." He smiled so affectionately that Reid's chest constricted with feeling.

"We'll both get there in the end," Reid said confidently, knowing it was only a matter of time.

  
THE END


End file.
